First Meeting
by Mariel Nightstalker
Summary: A drabble about Mara in her younger days.


First Meeting

The sun burned its way into her scalp and shoulders, siphoning away her energy like some kind of vicious blood-loving insect. That was as cool as it got today, apparently. There wasn't much difference, but at least she could breathe out here. Milking the few seconds of fresh air she had, she made her way back into the stuffy shed and continued her task of squeezing every possible drop of water out of her master's garments before piling them into a basket and hanging them up outside. She had been doing this since dawn and it was now past noon. Her feet had tripped her up earlier that day and her mistress had happened to be observing. She had been declared a clumsy, good-for-nothing waste of space and assigned further tasks for when she completed the laundry. The honey on the cake had been deprivation of the noon meal. It would mark the third day she had been refused food, and her stomach was spreading its worries to the rest of her tired form, making her head feel strange and her limbs sluggish. She needed food if she was to be expected to accomplish such harsh labor! And in this sun, no less!

Her body demanded food, and who was she to deny its needs? Smirking, she scanned the courtyard, noting its abandoned state. She had about 20 minutes until the other girls made their way here to begin ironing in the fashionable pleats on their master's kilts. Plenty of time to sneak out for a snack. Making her way to the wall that enclosed the grounds, she scaled the vines nimbly, young body lending itself well tot task since it knew it would be soon fed.

Feet hitting the shabby dirt road outside, she snagged a rag off an old woman's basket without her noticing, splashed it with wine from a drunk, (shameful! It was barely past noon!) and wrapped it around her face. It looked like she was injured, and it would prevent any of her master's perverted clients recognizing her should they have chosen to get off their comfortable couches by now.

Slipping through the crowd easily, she snagged a bread roll from a child's lunch sack who was excitedly chattering with his friends. Sinking her teeth into it, she tried not to moan at the delicious taste of something solid at last. No longer paying as much attention to her surroundings, she walked right into the broad chest of some kind of sailor. She could tell this because his robe smelled distinctly like the sea (mixed with some kind of foreign spice; most likely what he'd had for the midday meal).

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She cried, gathering herself and pulling away from his rather nice-smelling clothing. Trying and finally succeeding in suppressing her blush, she dared to meet his eyes. He was probably in his late thirties-early forties, and almost certainly married from the faintly defeated look in his eyes. He grinned at her, though, and patted her head.

"It is fine, young one. No harm came to either of us."

_But your purse has lost some weight… _She internally snickered. "If you are sure you're fine, I have someplace I need to be."

"Of course, lass. But not until you give me back the missing contents of my purse."

She froze. "I, um, don't know what you mean, sir." His eyes had frosted over, the previous kindness gone.

"I understand how hard it is to survive these days, what with the queen's iron fist squeezing our pockets until they hold nothing for our own survival, but I need the money as much as you do and I worked hard for it." He reached into her sash, removing the stolen coins. "May Ra smile upon you, unfortunate child."

"I'm not a child." She couldn't resist muttering at his receding back. She was 13, and had seen enough and had enough done to her to consider herself an adult. Now thoroughly depressed, she finished off her roll and made her way back to her master's house. She had a long day of work ahead of her and dawdling would not make the list grow any shorter.

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FINIS

Just a little something inspired by the question "What if Mara and Nekonkh had met before the boat?"

Review if anybody even knows this fandom exists.


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